Tied Together
by MasterQwertster
Summary: He'd managed to save the girl. Now what the hell was step two again? Well, it didn't really matter anyway because now they were tied together. Drabble-ish thing for before the main story but after Isshin left Soul Society.
1. A New World

**Author's Note**

So this is a drabble-y, diary-ish story for Isshin and Masaki's relationship. An exploration, if you will, of one of the few canon ships of Bleach. Though I think it'll mainly be by Isshin with a good dose of his adjustment to his new life. This'll be semi-chronological order and updates will likely be random and sporadic. Anywho, enjoy what is to come.

* * *

A new world.

Well, maybe not entirely new. I'd had missions to the World of the Living before, but living there was obviously going to be different. There is so much I don't know about this world. Hopefully the adjustment to being human wouldn't be too hard.

Who am I kidding?

This is probably going to be tougher than taking over the squad. At least I still had my nephew and other people I knew and could trust to help me get through that transition. This time I'm alone.

Er… well alone in the sense that I don't actually know anyone. I mean, I've heard of Urahara Kisuke, but I never really knew the man. Squad Two was always a secretive bunch and once the guy took over Squad 12 he was shutting himself away with the whole R&D shtick. Though I guess unless you had a good friend high up in another squad or something it wasn't exactly uncommon to not know the other captains, at least when you weren't one, or a lieutenant for that matter. Besides Urahara, I've only met Masaki, the beautiful Quincy girl my soul is now literally tied to, and the other guy Quincy, who I know nothing about. I'm sure Masaki will help me adjust, what with the whole soul binding thing. Not so sure about the four-eyes, didn't seem to like me, but he cares about Masaki and, again, I'm bound to her, so who knows, maybe he'll help.

It's a new world. A new adventure. Do I know what the hell I've gotten myself into? Not a clue. But I'm sure it'll work out because now we're tied together.

 **Comment/review to tell me what you think.**


	2. Sleepless Nights

It had been a month, _a month_ , since either Isshin or Masaki had had a full night's sleep.

The reason? A little something named Ichigo.

Isshin had come to realize in that month that Nii-san lied.

He lied, he lied, he lied!

Children were not "Eternally a blessing to your home." No, no, no.

They were Terrors in the Night.

During the day Ichigo was angelic. He did that burbling thing that babies did and smiled at the world. It was nearly inconceivable that a monstrous hollow was irrevocable wound with the child's soul when he was such a happy and innocent child. But every night without fail…

"WAAAAAAA! WAAAAA!"

There was that. They'd looked at parenting books of all kinds after the first week, but _nothing_ worked. Ichigo never stopped crying until one of them picked him up. And that was probably the worst part. Moments after he was picked up and rocked a bit he'd go back to cooing and being adorable. It made no sense.

"Hush, hush. I'm coming." Isshin tiredly mumbles, pushing himself out of bed.

Masaki usually insisted on taking care of Ichigo's nightly wails, saying Isshin was the one who had to work every day, so he needed the sleep more, but tonight it fell to Isshin. Masaki would have protested he was sure, as he padded over to the cradle, but she'd reached her limit for how long she could go without proper sleep and was lost deep, deep in dreamland tonight, easily proved by the fact that the previous two tantrums of this night had already been slept through.

"Come here, little guy. Daddy's got you." Isshin murmurs, scooping up the wailing baby and gently rocking him. Ichigo calms, looking at his father with sleepy eyes.

A small wave of hollow reiatsu washes over the small house, quickly followed by a burst of shinigami reiatsu.

Ichigo whimpers, drawing Isshin's attention back to his now scrunched up face.

"It's okay, daddy's here." Isshin soothes, resuming the rocking that he had unconsciously paused upon feeling the battle.

Wait? Could it be…?

Isshin wracks his brain, trying to remember if he sensed hollows during the previous tantrums. He thinks he might have, and it would make sense… if Ichigo was reacting to hollows showing up at night. It was no secret that Ichigo had plenty of reiatsu for such a small child and he _was_ part hollow, even if that was effectively sealed, so it wasn't impossible that his little baby mind picked up on the energies of the big, bad monsters, leaving him afraid until his parents soothed him with the safety of their arms.

Isshin looked down at his child. Soft breathes raising the little chest, small fingers gripping his night shirt. A soft smile spread across his face.

Okay, so maybe Nii-san wasn't a complete liar. It was a blessing to have this little life he held in his arms. Something he cherished as much as his wife, another person he'd risk his life to protect.

"You don't need to be scared of the big, bad hollows. Daddy's here and he'll always protect you, Ichigo."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Ichigo may suck at sensing now, but I think that's cause his own power blinds him. He's so strong that it takes someone else of considerable power to create enough pressure for him to notice on a normal day. Remember that he tracked Yuichi, the parakeet, pretty easily once he focused, so I'd say that as a weak baby with a bit of hollow instinct he'd cry when another hollow showed up until he felt safe.

Also remember that this fic is in no way in chronological order.

 **Please comment/review.**


	3. Get a Job

Getting a job in the World of the Living _sucks_.

The first step after getting semi-acquainted with what passes for normal here was to get myself a job, become self-dependent instead of "mooching" off of Urahara-san. Tessai-san can be really mean when he wants to.

You would think someone who sat at the top of the totem pole (a cool new term I've learned since "the big move") wouldn't have a problem getting a good job, right? Wrong.

It took me over a month just to land a job at a small convenience store. I barely make enough money to rent a shabby little apartment, forget about having enough for food! I'm living paycheck to paycheck with no prospects for getting more cash. I've been applying for better jobs, but gotten no where.

Masaki says that I just have to keep trying and someday I'll get a better job. I really want to believe her, but I'm not even getting to the interview stage. How can I get a better job when they won't even give me the chance to show them how awesome I am?

She's very kind, but persistence is not achieving anything. I will have to seek assistance elsewhere.

Ryuuken (once I'd successfully gotten answers out of him, the stuck-up Quincy bastard) said that I wasn't getting a job because my resume sucked, and that's paraphrasing by the way. What he said was much more derisive and complicated and I don't actually remember the whole thing. I do, however, remember that part of it was that I didn't have any listed job experience, but it's not like I can put "Commander of over two hundred Shinigami for sixty years" on my resume. Firstly, the ID that Urahara got me says that I'm 19, less than half the time I was captain, and secondly, the locals wouldn't take me seriously, or worse would condemn me as insane. I think he wanted me to put it down and see what happens, try to get a laugh out of it. Meanie.

* * *

I give up.

I give up. I can't get a better job without some more "professional" help. Hopefully the cost won't be too high. Pssh, yeah right. Urahara is anything but cheap, but I'm kinda lost without the guy. Masaki and Ryuuken just don't understand how much I don't know about this world. In Soul Society they train you for the job you're going to get, if you can't pass the training you get bounced to another program. It's simple. You don't go searching for the job.

Urahara told me that part of the problem was my skill set. Knowing how to take and give orders was all well and good, but I had relatively few selling points beyond my military grade obedience, which I barely had anymore anyways. Being a captain tends to take some of the strict rule following out of you when there's not many people above you, at least it does when you don't have a royal stick up your ass. *cough*Byakuya*cough*

So now I'm studying medicine. According to Urahara, who I at least trust in this matter, it is the only previous knowledge from my shinigami days that can be put to use in this world. All I need to do is brush up on the non-kido healing techniques, learn the medicine lay-out, and he should be able to help me get a license to run a small clinic.

* * *

It worked!

I can now see that self-employment was the road I should have picked all along.

Now I've got a small clinic in the Minamikawase district of Karakurachou, the next town over from Naruki-shi where Masaki lives. I'm not supposed to treat much beyond your common cold or a minor broken bone, but I'm still learning and can get further licensing later.

I'll be in debt to Urahara for the next couple years for helping me buy the place and getting set up, but I'm starting to support myself now.

Actually it's a nice place, even has a decent sized home attached to it, but it feels empty. It's just me in there. I'm used to a squad or my nephews and niece being around. It never really hit me 'til I struck out on my own that I'm alone. I've lost my family, my subordinates, my home.

But when Masaki stops by, mostly to tease me about my new white coat (almost like she forgot my captain's haori was white) it doesn't feel so empty. The patients I get don't create that feeling.

I wonder why.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Isshin definitely couldn't have become a doctor first thing. I mean there's licenses and stuff and even if Urahara is a master of fake documents I think Isshin would want/need the real thing for medical practice.

 **Please comment/review.**


	4. Letting Her Go

Masaki would be graduating next week and a decision must be made.

Or rather, _I_ have to make a decision.

By some miracle the choice of what future Masaki would have was given to me. I suppose her little mishap with that idiot shinigami and the hollow poisoning she received are the reason why. A superficial concern about her eligibility as an Echt I'm sure, not any actual concern for her as a person.

After all, to the clans of Gemischt we Echt are to be preserved at all cost. For all the status we have as Echt, we are little more than birds in gilded cages, our wings strong yet bound. Our air of leadership is a sham. We are stronger than the Gemischts, even given better training, yet it is strength never used because of the fear that we just might fall.

Fall like Masaki did.

I never told her, let alone anyone else, what had to happen, what I allowed to happen, so that she could live. Only Katagiri and myself knew that I had turned to shinigami for help, that I had only been the legs to carry her to where she needed to be. But even Katagiri didn't know that the hollow, the sickness, still in Masaki was only held back by a shinigami stupid enough to give up everything for a woman he barely even knew. No one but I and those shinigami knew that her human life depended on the continued self-banishment of a shinigami captain. And they didn't need to know either.

Let them worry about the "cured" hollow poisoning, the aftereffects of getting tainted. Although to them, that consists of whether or not she should still get married to me.

As for me, I never particularly wanted to marry her in the first place. It's not that I don't care for her, I just don't like her that way. She's too much of a stupid little sister for me to consider her otherwise. I also know that she never saw me that way either. But all they see is two Echt, two people who can together keep the purity going one generation longer. It disgusts me that they are so shallow. But what does it say about me that I can't even bring myself to voice anything close to that except in private with Katagiri?

It's why I don't deserve to protect the Quincy.

I can see what is wrong with us, the stagnation and decay caused by clinging to the old ways, the bloodlines, but I can't bring myself to do anything. I'm stuck and I can't seem to find the strength to break these chains. I can't be a free spirit like Masaki and the idiot shinigami, saving a life by breaking the rules today because I would hate myself for not doing it tomorrow. And I hate myself for that.

I hate myself because I know that if our positions were reversed, I wouldn't have saved her. I wouldn't have been able to give up everything I know for a person I'd only met once before like that idiot did. I would have found my continued efforts as a leader and pillar of strength as more valuable than the life of a single person. I can't protect the Quincy if I can't bring myself to do that much.

So I've decided to give up being a Quincy. I won't use my powers beyond necessity, if at all. I will save lives in a more traditional way, with medicine. I've already begun the schooling necessary to become a first-rate doctor. Is this the right choice to atone for my failure? I don't know.

Hah… but I have to do one thing right. I have to let her go.

My decision is to let Masaki leave and make her own way in the world.

It will be tough for her I'm sure, but she's tough, she'll make it. And I know she won't be alone, that idiot will stick with her. I've watched Masaki sneak out to see him and I can tell that unlike me, she loves him. He's probably too dense a moron to know that and Masaki is little better, but they'll figure it out, eventually.

So I'm letting her go and wishing her luck. May she find happiness wherever it is she goes. And if she has kids with that idiot, Reio help us all. That kind of sheer, bullheaded recklessness the worlds do not need.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

So I finally did someone besides Isshin. If you somehow haven't figured it out yet, this is Ryuuken. It was inspired by Isshin's comment that Masaki moved out after graduation and that it was probably is way of letting go of Masaki. It's interesting to do someone who is characterized as so cynical yet everyone knows has a soft spot for family. And I liked his parting comment.

 **Please comment/review.**


	5. Hidden Enemies

"You know who attacked me from behind that night."

A statement. A fact.

He wasn't wrong, but I was surprised that it took him this long to ask. Isshin had been staying in my shop for two weeks now and not made a peep about the events that led him to living here, besides explaining how Masaki came to be under the process of hollowfication. I insisted on knowing that.

It was hard to say whether I was glad or not that it took this long. On one hand, I had gotten time to get to know his personality and organize an explanation accordingly. On the other hand, taking so long to come to asking such a question was a bit worrying. Aizen's an intelligent man and I can't have all of the few allies I have relying on me to have every last answer. It's important that they can think for themselves some.

"So who was it? Who's the traitor in the Soul Society?"

Time to test his thought process a bit.

"You don't suspect me? I know you didn't recognize me on sight, but you did recognize my name. You know why I was banished."

"Yeah, well, I did suspect you a little bit, but I really doubt you could do anything from here to keep that hollow off the radar beyond the deaths it caused. Besides, I get the feeling that if it was you who had hollowfied Masaki you would have taken measures to prevent soul suicide before I got here. You clean up after yourself and try not to grab the Soul Society's attention. A hollow-Quincy mix would definitely grab their attention."

I nod. He has at least been observing me enough to know that I'm good at what I do, and right now that's hiding from the Soul Society.

"I've been thinkin' and it seems to me that whoever protected that weird hollow is probably the real reason you're stuck here too. You're not like Kurotsuchi, taking test subjects against their will, so I don't think you attacked those officers a hundred years ago. What I do know is that at the very least you saved their lives by figuring out how to prevent soul suicide. So I'll ask again, who's the traitor?"

I can't help but grin. It may have taken Isshin two weeks to ask, but they were not two weeks wasted. He was taking the time to try and determine if I could be trusted, determine that I wasn't the cause in the first place.

"I doubt you'll believe me. No one did a hundred years ago. Well, except for Yoruichi-san, of course. The traitor is Aizen Sousuke, current captain of Squad 5. Though when I discovered that he was the lieutenant."

As expected, he looks absolutely shocked. To be honest, I was too when I first found out that night nearly one hundred years ago. It was why I didn't end up moving against him until he tried to finish off Hirako-san. I was too shocked, too interested in his explanation to move until that moment. At that time I had my suspicions about the causes of the disappearing souls, but I honestly wasn't sure who was instigating it. Before that night, if forced to guess I would have said Mayuri. He was the only one I knew of with the intelligence and lack of morals to do such a thing. Aizen's words still ring true: What's truly frightening is the treachery that can't be detected.

"Yes, I know it seems quite impossible, but it is the truth. Let me tell you the truth of what happened nearly one hundred years ago…"

* * *

"… and I haven't seen them since then. I don't blame them for cutting ties with me. There's a good chance Aizen-san furthered his research using notes from my own and I failed to save anything more than their ability to continue existing. They'll do as they please, but I'm sure that when the time comes they will fight against Aizen-san."

"I guess Aizen being the bad guy makes more sense now, but there's still something I don't get. Why start his hollowfication experiments again now?"

"Honestly, I doubt he ever stopped. Though it would likely be more accurate to say that he never stopped experimenting in creating more powerful hollows. After all, Soul Society wouldn't string together hollows with oddly powerful abilities as being related. Considering what you encountered, I'd say that Aizen-san is most likely planning the opposite of my original theory and will be working on the arrancar aspect."

"Arrancar?"

"A hollow who has removed its mask to become more like a shinigami. On very, very, _very_ rare occasions hollows will destroy a portion of their own mask and gain a power that shares faint similarities with a shinigami. If a process similar to hollowfication, except with shinigami powers, were to be applied to the potential arrancars I'm sure a more complete version would emerge."

"That sounds pretty dangerous."

"Mmm. But you needn't concern yourself with it, Isshin-san. You won't have the power to participate in the battles to come for decades, if ever again, and I doubt you want to drag Masaki-san into it. So don't worry, live your new life in peace."

"Ah, yeah. Okay." He looks a little put down. Isshin's a good person, willing to throw himself into this fight with me when he barely knows me. If the time comes and his power is returned, I'll certainly take the help, but until then…

"Don't forget to sweep the front of the shop!~"

"WAIT, WHAT?!"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 _z_ for getting me thinking and semi-inspiring this chapter.

 **Please comment/review.**


	6. Unimportant Lies

"So what happened to your powers anyways?"

I hadn't seen his shinigami form at all in the past three months. Not since he saved me from that big head hollow while I was butt naked for some reason. I'm not even really sure where we were for that or how I lost my clothes and then woke up back in the clothes I was wearing when I lost consciousness at Ryuu-chan's mansion.

He looks surprised that I even asked. A little nervous too, like he didn't know how to answer. Now I was really curious.

"Ah, well, I, uh… I got kicked out of the Soul Society!" He says it as if he couldn't get it out fast enough. Somehow it doesn't sound right. A lie maybe? "That's right, I screwed up pretty bad on a mission, so they took my powers and kicked me out." He nods his head sagely as if it were a natural thing, not a major punishment. But what mission? It wasn't…

"You didn't get kicked out because of me did you?"

"What?! No! No. It has nothing to do with that!" He waves a hand as if to shoo away the thought. "I made my own mistake and paid the price for it." That rings a bit more true. Not the total truth, but close.

"Oh? But if they took your powers how'd you save me from that head hollow?" I smugly ask. His, well not a lie, but not the truth either, ready to come unwound by the question.

"Ah, um… it took a while for my powers to disappear!" There's more nodding like he's trying to convince himself and not just me.

"I was a captain, you know, and captains aren't known for being weak. We're the strongest in all of the Soul Society." He lectures. I believe him. If I hadn't gotten that hollow in close enough for a clean headshot that night, I would have lost, been killed. He fought with it long enough for me to feel them fighting, argue with Ryuu-chan, and run all the way over there. He is strong. Or rather, _was_ strong.

"So what happened on this mission that got you kicked out?"

"Ah, well, you see…"

* * *

It was a quite a story. An escort mission with a powerful noble ending in terrible disgrace for the noble while his life was saved. The noble then taking vengence for the disgrace by getting Isshin kicked out on an old, obscure law. (Apparently the government of the Soul Society is big on following laws, even when broken for good, life-saving reasons) It was a tale of thrills and breavery.

It was also a lie.

I could tell by how grandiose he was being that it wasn't true, or at least a highly exaggerated version of some other story he knew of. In the past three months I'd gotten to know him and one thing I noticed is that when he felt like he was in trouble and wanted to cover his tracks he got extra eccentric. Isshin likes to goof around, be silly, (I think it's probably a trick to get his subordinates to treat him like a person when he doesn't need them to strictly follow orders) but when he's got something to hide, a lie to tell, he goes a bit overboard with the eccentric personality.

I don't like that he's lying to me about why he lost his powers. It feels like he doesn't trust me, but I forgive him. For some reason I just can't stay mad at him for it.

I guess, to me, they're just… unimportant lies.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Masaki's viewpoint for this one. I really kind of like Isshin's lines about how he lied to Masaki about how he ended up living in Karakura, that she probably knew it was a lie, and that it didn't matter anyway, so this explores that. I also think for that lie to even have a half a chance of being effective means Masaki didn't really know about her hollowfication or how Isshin was stopping it. She didn't need to know that to live, so he could be her silent guardian. It's extra romantic that way. Well, I think it is anyway.

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	7. Changing Bonds

Things had been different since Ichigo was born.

There were stinky diapers, wails in the night, and tiny fingers that tried to yank on anything and everything in reach. (I had to be careful he didn't grab my hair when I blew raspberries against his belly)

But in these few days of new parenthood, something felt… different.

Not that different, "Oh, I'm a dad now, gotta look out for the kid," thing (not to say I didn't feel that). It was a different different, if that makes sense. It was something inside. Something just beyond my sight or reach, but I could feel it all the same. It felt… it felt like something had split in two, but what?

I kept thinking about this in the few quiet moments I got, searching inside me for this change.

Then I realized it wasn't inside me, at least not entirely, and that _terrified_ me. I slipped away that night to visit a shop I hadn't seen in nearly a year, hoping the last few nights without sleep had messed with my head, lead me to incorrect conclusions.

"Ara, ara. Do you know how late it is, Isshin-san?" Urahara tiredly asks.

"I need you to check the threads. Something's felt off ever since Ichigo was born."

His eyes light with interest and intelligence, all traces of sleepiness gone.

"Please come inside."

* * *

"Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?" Urahara asks, looking over a paper spat out by a machine he had used to check me.

I nervously grip the tea he had made while waiting for the machine to process its tests. "Um… good?"

"Well, the good news is the strings are still tight and going strong."

I sigh in relief. Masaki's not going to suffer handling a full hollowfication process. Everything's fine. Wait. If that's the case then…

"What's the bad news?"

"The hollow is no longer inside Masaki."

Huh?

"Shouldn't that be good news too? That means it's not tainting her anymore. She can be a regular Quincy again, right?"

"If you'd like to look at it that way, sure. However, you ought to think about _how_ the hollow was able to leave her system and _where_ it went." He cryptically answers.

How? Didn't it just get fed up and leave her? I mean, nothing had really changed about her on the inside like tha-

"No way. It can't. It can't be."

"It would appear that it _can_ be." Urahara looks sad while he says this. No no no. Don't say it. It can't, _can't_ be. "Little Ichigo-kun has inherited the whole hollow from Masaki-san."

"Bu-but _how_?"

"Understand that I can only theorize, but I would guess that it has to do with the nature of Masaki-san's hollowfircation. In essence, another soul was grafted onto hers artificially, however it was impossible for it to fully integrate. It could not truly be a part of her. A simple comparison would be attaching a prosthetic limb or putting on roller-skates. They function as needed under the wearer's command, but they're not truly a part of the wearer."

"When Ichigo-kun was being formed I would guess that the hollow wove itself into him and his soul simply integrated it and formed around it. You could liken this to a liver replacement. A case where the body successfully accepts the foreign piece placed into it, makes it a part of the structure."

He makes it sound simple, like it won't hurt our little baby boy, but it's a _hollow_. A soul devouring monster locked away in a baby, in a child who can't do a thing on his own. And he's made it very clear that even trying to remove it will result in death.

"The string will hold, right? He won't ever have to deal with being part hollow, right? Right?!"

"So long as the hollow, as Ichigo-kun, remains weaker than your power can handle."

There goes my dream of seeing him wield a zanpakuto or even a Quincy bow. To teach him how to be strong and fight hollows, even if I could only watch from the sidelines. I'll have to push a little harder for raising our kids ignorant of the world of spirits, but to avoid this hurt, it'll be worth it.

"Can you do me a favor?" I receive a hum of interest, an indicator to ask. "Can you prevent Ichigo from ever encountering a hollow while he lives? I want him to be able to live a human life for as long as possible. Please."

"I'll do what I can, but don't expect it to last. He's the child of a pure-blood Quincy and a shinigami captain from one of the Great Noble Clans. It would be strange if he didn't have a lot of power, and you know how hollows love lots of power."

I numbly nod. Even the best defenses have their weaknesses. It would be a bit of a miracle if Ichigo went his whole human life without seeing a hollow, but we could try to make it so. We _would_ try. We, no, I will do my best to protect this new life, this changing bond.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Back to an Isshin point of view for this one. He finds out how the hollow is in Ichigo but still tied to him. I kind of half like the idea that Masaki never knew what happened with the hollow, herself, and Ichigo and it honestly makes a lot of sense when you consider how Isshin didn't let Ichigo know what he was until had almost no choice. It also explains a bit why Ichigo never saw a hollow when he had enough reiatsu to see spirits for pretty much his whole life, making him hollow bait.

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	8. No Interest, No Talent

Why?

I suppose that's the question of all questions, so let me narrow it down.

Why was my son so foolishly stumbling along the path of the Quincy?

There is nothing to gain from it. The shinigami guide the wandering souls to the next life, they are better suited to deal with the hollows too. A Quincy is unnecessary and just a way to needlessly risk one's life. A single bite or scratch from a hollow and we might very well die, never mind that the wound could heal just fine if it came from any other source.

I would blame my father for indulging Uryuu, for teaching him what I refuse to even speak of, but I can't. I never told him why I gave up being a Quincy, the truth about Masaki, and I never intend to, so he doesn't know how I fear what being a Quincy can do to a person. I consider it sometimes, but I know that it would change nothing. I may have forsaken the Quincy way, but I have not forsaken the power, and hypocrites rarely get their way.

I thought my father might stop of his own accord when Kanae died from having her powers taken, but it seems to have had no effect. Can't he see that just because Uryuu's power wasn't taken that day doesn't mean it won't be taken another? It's not too late to stop my son from craving power, to go looking for it when it gets lost, because he will lose it. I'm not so foolish as to believe that my father won't give him the means to use Letz Stile, nor so stupid as to believe that Uryuu will never use it. When he does, I know that he will mope, be half alive. I've seen it in others who have used it and lost what strength they had. My father did not restore the power to all who lost it, he made sure they were worthy to stand amongst us again. And I know that in the end I will restore Uryuu's powers, regardless of my father's test, using what he taught me, because I will not be able to watch my son suffer.

I can see the foolishness of Masaki in my son, though I don't know how it got there. I don't know whether I should be happy or scared. He will put himself in danger, I have no doubt, and I will have to save him, even if it kills me, because he's the one thing I have to protect.

I have no interest, he has no talent, and yet we are still Quincies, still trapped in a world of spirits.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Another Ryuuken point of view. This one is inspired by Uryuu's flashback in chapter 124, volume 15 if you've got a collection to look at. I think that while Ryuuken wouldn't tell anyone about what really happened with Masaki that Souken would kind of understand why Ryuuken quit Quincy stuff. He certainly seemed to know that Ryuuken valued Uryuu the most, even if little Uryuu couldn't see it, but trained Uryu anyway because "what you think is right depends on what you want to protect" so he wanted him trained so that Uryuu could protect his "right". Ah, but that might be a different drabble to do. This is mostly why Ryuuken doesn't want Uryuu to do Quincy things and how much he secretly loves his son.

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	9. Pact of the Pack

We were changed on that night long ago.

Well, no duh there. You can't have a hollow grafted onto your soul and not come out of it any different than when you started, but I'm talkin' about on the inside. More than gaining this little voice in your head tellin' you "Hey, that guy's an asshole, rip his head off!" you become aware of some things you didn't really think about before, like the bonds you share with others.

I'm not sure how aware of it the others are (consciously aware, moron, their actions say they acknowledge it) but we've become like wolves, if you ask me. We're dangerous and wild and we've got sharp instincts and while we can tough if on our own, we prefer to be in a pack.

Hard to believe when Hiyori's takin' a sandal to your head all the time or when Rose is gripin' about Love spoilin' the latest manga or Kensei and Mashiro are at it _again_ , but we really are most comfortable when we're all together.

Sometimes one or two of us'll wander off, try settlin' down and makin' ties with humans, but those never feel right. It's easy enough to gather a little pack, get a den, but when you can't be _all_ that you are, well, it's not really _home_ and they're not really _family_.

Truth is, the longest any of us has struck out on their own is Lisa at ten years. She ran across a little girl that reminded her of her captain's little niece that she was helpin' him look after, so she stuck around to make sure this little one made it to her own two feet. A memento of sorts to the pack we used to belong to.

And somethin' just _aches_ to think about Soul Society, our squads, the pack we once had, some of us once _led_. And whatever that somethin' is, that's what makes this pack so strongly bound together. We don't quite fit in with the humans and the shinigami have cast us out, so there's just each other to rely on, just the vizards.

Well, maybe we could trust Kisuke, Tessai-san, and Yoruichi, they certainly did a lot to keep us alive, but they're not fully one of us. If anything, I suppose they're honorary members of our pack, people we can trust to not kill us on sight. I think some of those early departures had a couple of us bunkin' down with them, but no matter how many times we take a sabbatical to get away from the pack, we always come back.

So when I ran into Urahara Kisuke after 85 years since our hasty departure from the Soul Society, 83 years since we all left his care to fend for ourselves, having felt that we had enough control over ourselves and a good enough understanding to blend in with humans, shocked was an understatement for how I felt. We were careful. We never made a big name in the human world, certainly didn't do much that could gain any spiritual attention, so how the hell did he _find me_?!

Of course, the _why_ for him initiating contact after letting me, us, roam for eight decades was nearly as terrifying as the _how_.

Not that he let me know what that was right away. No sir'ee , instead he starts chattin' like we're long lost friends tryin' to catch up with one another (not that we kind of weren't, it's just I was havin' a minor panic attack on how he found me when he wasn't _supposed_ to be able to find us). And after he was done titterin' away about all these pleasantries, slipppin' in that _of course_ he could track _his own_ custom made gigai, he asked me to come see somethin' with him.

Seein' as Kisuke's one of, if not _the_ smartest person ever and he never does anything without a purpose, I took the bait and followed him out to a little place called Karakurachou. It was a nice enough town, if you discounted the high hollow occurrence rate and less than stellar shinigami staffing in response, and apparently it was also the place he was calling home for now.

It wasn't until we went walkin' in one of the local parks that I saw what he wanted to show me, and I had half a mind to listen to that little voice and rip the genius asshole's head off.

 _It was a kid_.

There was this little bitsy kid, only a year or two old with a shock of brilliant orange hair, runnin' around with more coordination than the others his size and I could see it. He was one of _us_. His reiatsu was stronger than most grown humans would ever get and even if that hollow trace was near non-existent, you can't spend so long around others like yourself and not learn to recognize it.

"What the hell did you do, Kisuke?" I growl at him. No kid, especially one that little, deserves to live with a monstrous second personality in their head.

"Did you think Aizen-san stopped experimenting just because the easy scapegoat was gone? Because even with captain-class shinigami _his_ experiment was still a failure that _I_ had to fix?" His words are cold, harsh, and so damn _true_ it hurts to think about it. "I managed to save that boy's mother from having to deal with the hollow from what I learned helping you and with the help of his father, but how could I have known it could be hereditary?" I almost snort. He may not have _known_ , but he could have guessed. "I doubt I could have stopped them from having a child anyway. The seal I gave her was passed on to the boy, but I wanted to make sure that you knew about him and would be ready to help him if his hollow side ever got loose."

My eyes flick over Kisuke, then back to the kid who is now being scooped up by a beautiful woman. A beautiful woman who is a _Quincy_.

"Just what kind of monstrous little ankle-biter are you asking me to babysit?" I sigh in defeat. I can't deny it, just laying eyes on the little brat and I can already tell that he belongs in my pack, he just doesn't know it yet.

* * *

And here we are, nearly fifteen years later, ready for the formal induction of the kid I saw back then. Except now I'm not so sure that we won't be joining _his_ pack. Kid's got a bunch of human kids that he _definitely_ ain't leavin' any time soon and Kisuke mentioned somethin' 'bout havin' half the Soul Society takin' a liking to him too. Guess it doesn't really matter in the end because we'll still end up tied to him by the pact of the pack.

Welcome to the family, kid.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Hey, back with an update here. So this one is Shinji's point of view, because seriously, how would the vizards have known about Ichigo and that Aizen was making his move if Urahara wasn't pulling some strings? And I was real careful to make sure this didn't contradict canon. Shinji didn't know Isshin's reiatsu, so he didn't appear in this. Also, all of the early "who are the vizard?" info comes from Isshin and sounds suspiciously like a Soul Society version of them and he just speculates that arrancar advancement is what notifies them to Aizen's prep for war. Kisuke on the other hand, barely says a word about them, except for a reference to predicting that they would contact Ichigo, which is easy to do when you _ask_ someone to do something. He's a master of manipulation, so, you know. Also, Shinji's pretty much the only vizard that's never surprised by Ichigo's strength. You'll notice that when Hiyori finally gets Ichigo's hollow out, all the vizard get a surprised face, except Shinji, so maybe he had an inkling of just how much potential Ichigo had. Well, I think that's enough rambling from me.

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	10. So Bad Yet So Good

Cigarettes and smoking are bad for you. No two ways about it. Trust me, I'm a doctor.

That being said, I used to smoke all the time. Ryuuken got me started when he introduced it to me as a way to relieve stress, saying I couldn't be dealt with without a little nicotine in his system. It was mean, but after giving it a try myself (and getting past choking on the inhaled fumes) I could admit that he was right, it was a great way to calm down. I wasn't a chain smoker with a cigarette always in my mouth, of course, but I'd have one every other day. More if it was a particularly stressful day.

I won't ever forget the first time Masaki caught me with one of those bad boys in hand.

It had been raining hard the past few days, that day too, and there was a bad car accident a few blocks from the clinic, so naturally the injured ended up on my doorstep. The injuries had me rushing around trying to stabilize them so they could make it to the hospital for full care because they were beyond me. It wasn't easy, handling it all by my lonesome, but somehow I pulled through.

Once they had been carted out the door, hysterical buddies and family gone with them, I pulled out my pack of cigarettes for a good smoke out front. And that's how she found me, sitting in the doorway, taking a drag.

"So you do smoke."

I looked up in surprise to see my girlfriend, we'd just made it official, standing before me with an umbrella over her head.

"Well, yeah." I didn't really know what else to say to that.

She just smiled at me knowingly. "You always smelled a bit like smoke, but nothing strong, so I wasn't sure if it was you smoking or if it was just a neighbor or something like that."

"Oh." I guess that explained it. Sometimes the crankier patients complained about that faint whiff of smoke that came off me, but that was easy enough to ignore.

I took a long drag and breathed out a stream of smoke.

"You know, you look pretty cool when you smoke. It's this kind of cool, tortured look, like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you're gonna deal with it anyways, 'cause that's just what you do."

"Yeah? Well, I was once in charge of about one thirteenth of the world's souls, so I had a good bit of the world on my shoulders once." I replied to her observation, hiding the small glow of pride that she thought I was cool.

"Mmm, but not anymore, you know? So what's bothering you today?" she asked with a smile, lighting up the gloomy day.

"Well, there was a bad accident a few blocks away and I had to deal with the patients from that until the ambulance could get them to the hospital, but nothing's bothering me anymore." I said, returning her grin at the end, cigarette caught between my teeth.

"Oh? Relieved to get rid of them?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"Nah, you showed up, gorgeous. What have I got to worry about anymore?"

And she laughed like sunshine.

She saw me smoke plenty of times after that, though I had to quit once the twins were born. I tried quitting when Ichigo was born, but I didn't quite make it. Second time's the charm, I guess.

But when she died, oh it was hard not to go back to cigarettes, to not look for the calming comfort of nicotine. But I quit for our kids because she wanted them healthy and happy (not that I didn't want that too) and cigarettes, second-hand smoke, it's not good for them.

It wasn't until the anniversary marking our first year without her that I broke. I had my first cigarette in six years. And one was enough because I remembered that conversation. How pathetic would I be if I couldn't still look cool for the love of my life? If I couldn't deal with a little world on my shoulders like it was what I did?

So I decided, one a year on that day. Just to show her that I could still be cool and handle the world because while cigarettes are so bad for you, to her, they made me look so good.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

So this one gets its base from early Bleach, back after Ichigo fought Grand Fisher in the graveyard. I thought it'd be interesting to look at Isshin's explanation for why he was smoking, something you never see him do anywhere else. I tied in Isshin's comment about being too young for the cool, tortured look with how Masaki thought he looked cool and Ryuuken's habit of smoking that got shown later in the series because I figure there's go to be some connection there. So yeah, not much to explain in this chapter I think.

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	11. Never a Dull Moment

"You're mine now, Mrs. Quincy, and I'm not going to let you get away."

She liked the sound of that. After all, it was quite comfortable to be snuggled up against her newlywed husband, but…

"Not quite, Mr. Shinigami. For you see, I've got _you_."

"Oh? A reversal, eh?" And she could feel his deep chuckles from her position at his side. "Then it would seem we have a battle, Quincy versus Shinigami again."

"It would seem we do." She snuggled up a little closer.

"And where, pray tell, would this battle take place?"

"In the bedroom," she breathed into his ear, smiling coyly at the shiver her words produced. "Under a fort of sheets." And she kissed his neck, feeling his pulse quicken under her lips.

Only she would turn a centuries old battle into something like this, and he loved it, loved her.

Yep. They were anything but an ordinary couple and his new wife made sure there was never a dull moment.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Yeah, I dunno, I was just randomly inspired to do silly foreplay between Isshin and Masaki, probably because Bleach ended with the pairings I supported resulting in two very cute kids. So yay!

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	12. The Best Pillow

Masaki was giggling and laughing as she came back to the clinic after her first girl's night out since Ichigo had been born. She was a little drunk, but it had just been so fun to get out of the house without worrying about her baby boy because Isshin had him tonight.

Speaking of which, she found both her boys asleep on the couch.

 _They're adorable_ , she thought, wondering where the camera was. It would make a great picture: her husband zonked out on the couch with an arm draped over their one-year-old who was fast asleep on Isshin's chest, little hand fisted in his father's shirt.

"So cute," she sighed at the cuteness before her, a blissful smile on her face. However, the smile didn't last as a thought made its way through her muddled mind.

"Ichigo took the best pillow," she pouted at the sleeping pair. "Isshin's chest is supposed to be _my_ pillow." She loved snuggling up to him, her head on his firm, chiseled chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart and he'd hold her close in those strong arms of his, hands idling stroking her. Definitely the best.

She glared drunkenly at her husband and son, debating the pros and cons of removing Ichigo to take back her hunky pillow, when with a sleepy huff, Isshin shifted on the couch in a way that made just enough room for Masaki to snuggle up against him and use the other half of his chest as her pillow.

What Masaki did not know was that Isshin had been half awake since she first spoke and, catching a good whiff of alcohol, obligingly shifted so she didn't have to try to take "the best pillow" from their son, as her adorably drunken glare had indicated she was considering doing. He also contested that his chest made all that great a pillow, considering her ample bosom was also available. Now _that_ was "the best pillow" if you asked him. Soft and cushy and she'd usually hum and stroke his hair when he got to rest his head there. Definitely the best.

Either way though, she got one thing right, Ichigo always took the best pillow.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Family fluff here. Little kids get all the luck in the world, sleeping wherever they want or just happen to be, so why can't parents be a little jealous of the special treatment? So yep, finding the best (human) pillow.


End file.
